Stress Free Wedding Planning

Congratulations, you’re engaged! As you begin planning the most important day of your life, you’ll find it may also be one of the most stressful. Here are some tips on how to make you wedding planning as stress free as possible!

Set Your Budget- Sit down with both sets of parents and decide on a budget. If you and your groom are footing the bill yourselves, take a look at your finances and decide how much you can spend. Having a set budget before you start goes a long way toward alleviating stress.

Take Your Time: Most brides can’t wait for their wedding day, but think twice before rushing down the aisle. Take the time to enjoy being engaged and all the celebrations that come along with it(engagement party, bridal showers, etc). For most of us, this time will only happen once. Another thing to consider is that all the best reception venues book up a good 9-18 months in advance. Don’t settle for less if you don’t have to!

Don’t Bring a Crowd: When you visit a vendor or go for a fitting, bring a trusted friend or two (or your groom!), not a crowd. The more people you bring with you, the more opinions you’ll have thrown at you, and that can be overwhelming, leading you to try and please them rather than yourself!

Get Organized: Buy a wedding planner or make one of your own with a three ring binder, some paper, and some pocket dividers. When you go through bridal magazines, tear out the pictures and articles you like and recycle the rest. Those mags tend to be bricks and pile up fast! Keep all contracts and vendor information in your planner as well, and make sure a trusted friend or family member has access to it on the big day, so they can handle any issues for you.

Take a Time Out: Be sure to take regular time outs from the whirlwind of planning, both for yourself and for you and your groom. Go on a special date or weekend getaway together, or simply unplug the phone and take a long bath with a good book. You don’t want to forget why you’re doing all this planning in the first place! Do you have any wedding planning tips? Leave a comment and let us know!

Photo: Sue Walsh